Although Max
Wertheimer is to be credited as the founder of the movement of
Gestalt psychology, the concept of Gestalt
itself was first introduced in contemporary philosophy and
psychology by Ehrenfels in his famous work Über
Gestaltqualitäten ("On the Qualities of Form", 1890). The idea
of Gestalt has its roots in theories by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
and Ernst Mach. Both
he and Edmund
Husserl seem to have been inspired by Mach's work Beiträge
zur Analyse der Empfindungen ("Contributions to the Analysis
of the Sensations", 1886) to formulate their very similar concepts
of Gestalt and Figural Moment respectively.

Ehrenfels studied philosophy at the University of Vienna with Franz Brentano
and Alexius
Meinong, promoted under supervision of Meinong, after the
latter's move to the University of Graz, in 1885 on the
topic of Größenrelationen und Zahlen. Eine psychologische
Studie ("Relations of magnitude and numbers. A psychological
study"). He obtained his habilitiation in 1888 in Vienna with the
work: Über Fühlen und Wollen ("On feeling and willing").
From 1896 to 1929 he was professor of philosophy at the German
university of Prague.

There he studied philosophy, was a pupil of Franz Brentano and Alexius Meinong, promoted under supervision of Meinong, following him after his move to the Karl-Franzens-Universität (Graz), in 1885 on the topic of Größenrelationen und Zahlen. Eine psychologische Studie ("Relations of magnitude and numbers. A psychological study"). He obtained his habilitiation in 1888 in Vienna with the work Über Fühlen und Wollen ("On feeling and willing"). From 1896 to 1929 he was professor of philosophy at the German university of Prague. Interested in his lectures were among others Max Brod, Franz Kafka and Felix Weltsch.

His daughter was the author Imma von Bodmershof and his son Rolf, a professor of anthropology converted to Islam in 1927. Umar's wife, Elisabeth von Bodmershof, published as a writer, under the pseudonym "Kurban Said" some books together with the convert Essad Bey.

Intellectual contributions

The idea of Gestalt has its roots in theories by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Ernst Mach. Max Wertheimer is to be credited as the founder of the movement of Gestalt psychology. The concept of Gestalt itself was first introduced in contemporary philosophy and psychology by Ehrenfels in his famous work Über Gestaltqualitäten (On the Qualities of Form, 1890). Both he and Edmund Husserl seem to have been inspired by Mach's work Beiträge zur Analyse der Empfindungen (Contributions to the Analysis of the Sensations, 1886) to formulate their very similar concepts of Gestalt and Figural Moment respectively.

Famous became his transition of a melody to another key. Ehrenfels explained that a melody consists of individual sounds, but that it is considerably more than the sum of these notes. The individual notes would be able to join themselves for completely different melodies, while the melody would remain the same, if transposed into another key and containing single tones.
This new opinion, that came up to a “perception of the whole” compared to its “parts” Ehrenfels called Gestaltqualitäten (Figure qualities). (Compare with: Aristoteles - "The whole is more than the sum of its parts").

Ehrenfels argued in numerous culture-scientifical and sexual-political writings against the cultural harmfulness of monogamy and for the utopia of a polygynian social order. He defended the opinion that monogamy would hinder a darwinistic reproduction-logic and procreation-selection, what would have a devastating affect on society in a cultural-biological way and therefore monogamy should be combated. With those theories, Ehrenfels exposed himself to a massive criticism, because he offered with his theories unimaginable thoughts to contemporian conventions.

The Czech Zionist, philosopher and friend of Kafka Felix Weltsch wrote many essays and memos about Ehrenfels, who himself was of partly Jewish descent. [1] He was one of his most important pupils.